jason (FMA Admin)

Mini Profile

With their drum-machine-powered, infectious fuzzed-out goth, Black Math bring to mind the Jesus and Mary Chain (or, if you ask them, Siouxsie and the Banshees), but with more layers to pick apart. Xina's vocals float like the open sky above dark clouds, and she plays the cello! Jimmy's synth and sharp drum patterns bring a shadowy dark-wave element, while Andrew's wall-of-sound guitar harkens back to the aforementioned 1980s shoegazers.

Black Math's second LP Phantom Power is out now in a limited edition of 500 on their hometown Chicago label Permanent Records. Permanent is one of the finest record stores around, and their label releases typically sell out, including jams by Moon Duo, Cave, Charles Albright, Cheveu, The Anals, Cacaw, Nothing People, Drunks With Guns and Purling Hiss.

Permanent also released Black Math's debut LP, limited to a paltry 100 copies -- sold out instantly, and according to Permanent Records, "One fan offered as much as $120, hoping to find a remaining copy!". This, despite the fact that it's been available in completely free mp3 form here all along (via Pan y Rosas Discos).

Before the Free Music Archive launched, we featured Black Math and a bunch of other Chicago bands in our Chicagoland Free Music Archive preview, part of a series of mega-posts on wfmu's beware of the blog. More recent Chicago findings are here at the Chicago tag, and if you find more stuff, any logged-in user can join in on the tagging project.